Explosion
by Casbutt-in-Camelot
Summary: Dean didn't expect all this hassle to come from one ball of feathers. Now he has to deal with the whole damn world ending again, and trying to teach a fledgling how to say 'ass'. Set in season eight after goodbye stranger and carries on until after the season finale.
1. arriving

Arriving:

It was safe to say that Dean didn't quite expect a new edition so soon. He had enough on his plate; Cas was AWOL, Kevin was still gone, and Sam was still ill. After the whole 'almost killing Dean and running away with the tablet' thing, Cas had been out of sight but not out of mind lately. Dean couldn't believe what Cas did. He was going to kill him, but why did he stop? Why did everybody Dean loved just stop like that when he asked them too? Dean drove toward home, defeated and confused, when there was an explosion of feathers in the back seat. Dean swerved almost completely off the road, spitting the things out of his mouth. They were black, and blue and white and even grey, and though they were nice feathers Dean still wasn't impressed with the things clogging up his car. He slammed the breaks on, almost making Sam head butt the dashboard, and angrily turning in his seat, only to find a dishevelled Cas staring at him, clutching a small clump of the feathers. He looked beaten up, bloody and bruised, and Dean gaped.

"Cas?" Sam asked.

"Hello Sam, Dean. I need your help" He said, sounding desperate.

"Oh really? You need our help? What the hell happened back there Cas? You tried to kill me!" Dean growled, and Cas shrunk in his seat.

"I'm sorry Dean. But this is important" He said.

"Does it have something to do with whatever is in your hands?" Sam asked, and Cas nodded. The little ball of feathers didn't look very important.

"I was hiding the tablet away somewhere safe when I heard word of Crowley getting hold of a Fledgling" Cas began. Sam frowned.

"Fledgling?" He asked.

"A young angel. He had somehow taken it from it's sanctuary in Heaven, and he intended to use it as a weapon. In self defence the fledgling took this form" Cas explained, gesturing to the feathers.

"A weapon, that? Are you serious?" Dean asked sharply. Cas sighed.

"Fledglings are low on the Hierarchy of Heaven Dean, but in some ways they are more dangerous than all the angels. They emit massive amounts of Grace in short bursts that can turn the sea into the desert. On earth, this Fledgling is-

"Fatal" Sam supplied. Cas nodded.

"So, why don't you just take it home?" Dean asked. Cas shifted.

"Heaven is compromised it wouldn't be safe. I need you to care for it until it comes out of this shell"

"The hell you do!" Dean started, but Sam gave him a warning glance.

"Cas. That's an angel. A real, living, practically unborn angel. You're trusting two of the most hunted hunters on the planet to look after it?"

"Sam, I trust you with this" Cas said.

"Right, you trust us with stuff when it suits you" Dean snapped. Cas looked ashamed, but Dean didn't care. The guy took off after nearly killing him and now he comes back when he wants Dean to do him a solid? What was Dean meant to do, take the feathers and drive off into the sunset like the good little soldier? Well, not any more.

And yet, somehow he did.

Dean didn't know how he ended up with the thing (although he thought Sam had something to do with it) but he was now driving back to base whilst Sam held the feathers, Cas gone once again. He'd said they had to 'bond' with it, but how exactly do you bond with feathers?

"Dean, its- its trying to heal me" Sam murmured, breathing deeply. Dean frowned.

"Healing you? You mean, whatever the trials are doing to you-"

"The angel is trying to fix it"

"Well, is it working?" Dean asked.

"A little" Sam admitted "But I don't think It'll last"

Dean sighed. Of course it wouldn't. Nothing good in their lives ever lasted. Their Mom didn't last, Jess didn't last, Cas didn't last- although he lasted longer than the others- and Dean wasn't even surprised that the feathers couldn't fix Sam. After all, how many people had tried and failed? He thought about that as he made the last stretch home.


	2. Accepting

**So, chapter 2. I hope you like it, I know these things are quite short (I was never one for really long chapters ) but hopefully I should be updating pretty regularly, if school work doesn't get in the way. But lets be honest, I'll probably still be updating just to have something to do instead of my work. So, tell me what you think and everything, I enjoy feedback! **

With the 'bundle of joy' in their lives, Sam and Dean had to put a lot of things on hold to make sure the Fledgling was safe. First off, they couldn't take it on hunts. This cause a big problem because a few days after having the Fledgling it began to angel zap itself to wherever they were, meaning that a horde of demons followed after it. Dean had to drive back to base each time, muttering under his breath about just wanting to do his job. Several times they had to leave a hunt because some high ranking demon was on their asses for the fledgling, and Dean would throw himself into Purgatory again before giving hell a weapon like this. Chances are Crowley already had Kevin; he wasn't getting an angel too.

Second, the fledgling didn't do conflict. Sam was slowly deteriorating and seemed intent on running himself into the ground, meaning the Dean took on his role as the mother hen and forced Sam to relax. Sam of course would get all bitchy and the arguing would break out. Within seconds of their voices being raised the fledgling would appear on one of their laps (it was mostly Dean's) or in their arms, and the Grace the angel had would calm them instantly. The Fledgling had that effect. It sent out soothing waves every time Dean was in contact with it, making him almost sleepy and safe. At first he panicked at the feeling; it seemed like a trap, lulling into a false sense of security, but eventually he learned that the Fledgling was just trying to help him. For a ball of feathers, the thing seemed to be more alive than he thought.

Dean got into a regular routine with the Fledgling. Sam seemed uneasy around it for some reason, so Dean took over, taking the tiny ball of feathers with him around the bunker, forming a 'bond' like Cas advised. He set it on the kitchen counter whilst he cooked, and it seemed to like it when he sung his favourite rock songs. At least the feathers had some taste, right? Then he'd force Sam to hold the fledgling for a few hours, so that maybe the guy could heal a little after not listening to his big brother and trying to do too much work in his condition.

"I'm fine Dean, I don't need it" Sam grumbled. Dean rolled his eyes and put the feathers in Sam's lap. Sam relaxed instantly, sighing deeply.

"Really? You really don't need it? Give it back then" Dean said.

"Shut up, asshole, leave me alone" Sam shot at him, and Dean smirked as he left to explore the deeper parts of the bunker. Sammy couldn't hide anything from him, he never could. After all, Dean practically raised him, he knew his brother inside and out.

It took a few weeks, but Dean came to realise, one morning when he woke up to find that he had the Fledgling tucked against his side and free of the aftermath of bad dreams, that he'd gotten used to it being there. He accepted the Fledgling and he no longer had to remember to carry it with him or remember where he'd put it or anything. It was funny really, the most reluctant Winchester was the one who'd accepted the change first. It took a few days after that revelation to leave the Fledgling with Sam and go out on his first hunt in what seemed like forever. He'd managed to keep Sam in the bunker with the Fledgling's help. It could understand him, Dean learned that ages ago, so he told the Fledgling to put Sam to sleep for a few hours and stay with him, so Dean could wrap up a few loose ends they'd left lately. The plan went smoothly and the Fledgling actually listened to him, not appearing on the back seat of the Impala like it always did. When he returned home Sam was still out and the Fledgling was perched on the table, like a tiny table decoration or something. He picked it up and smiled as the Fledgling repaired the small flesh wounds he'd gotten on his hunt.

"Thanks... buddy" He said softly, and wondered how much weirder his life would get if he was talking to a pile of angel feathers.


	3. Growing

**Ah, chapter 3. The longest so far, 10 points to Griffindor! The next one will be Cas' return and the 'hatching' of the Fledgling- with a little Crowley thrown in, so watch out for that. Thank you for following this story so suddenly, I was literally hit with several e-mails at once alerting me, it's the best reason for my phone crashing ever! **

It was Sam who noticed a change in the Fledgling first. Dean sat down at the table, putting a plate of a huge breakfast down in front of Sam and one for himself, to find that he was completely ignored. Sam had placed the Fledgling on the table and was staring at it intently, a frown on his face. He looked gaunt and pale and Dean knew that the second trial had really thrown him, and he hated knowing that he couldn't fix this without Kevin. He'd done so much to keep Sam alive, and now look at him- wasting away as if all that Dean had done never really mattered. Dean sighed heavily.

"Does it look- _bigger _to you?" Sam asked, his tired eyes not leaving the Fledgling. Dean shrugged.

"Bigger? Nah man, it's exactly the same" He said, trying to see what Sam meant and failing. For a thing that radiated calm and appeared in places when you weren't expecting it (the shower, for one- feathers over there had as little boundaries as Cas) the Fledgling didn't _do _much. Not even a feather ruffled and it made no noise, not ever. If Dean didn't know any better he would've said it was just a ball of feathers. But then, he did know better- a lot better.

"I swear its grown" Sam muttered. Dean sighed.

"I think the trials have made you wacky man. The Fledgling is the same as it always was" He told him, but just to make sure, Dean picked the Fledgling up with one hand and carefully inspected it. Sam rolled his eyes and Dean put it back on the polished wood. Nope, still the same. Dean tucked into his breakfast and watched Sam expectantly until he did the same, making sure that he ate. The worst thing Sam could do was not eat.

"Are we going out hunting, or are you gonna go ahead and train someone else to take with you?" Sam asked sullenly, probably still annoyed about being put on the bench.

"You could hardly walk and couldn't even shoot straight dude, don't be a bitch about it. If you're up to the job then yeah, we'll go, but we have to figure out what to do with feathers" Dean told him through a mouthful of bacon, which Sam pulled a disgusted face at.

"Swallow, Dean. I'm up for the job, and as for 'feathers'; it can hear you, right? So tell it to stay here for a while"

"Sam, we can't leave a baby angel here on it's own"

"Why not?"

"Well, because it's a baby!"

"Oh come on Momma bear, it's not a real baby. Fledglings don't eat, they don't sleep to our knowledge; what's so bad about leaving it alone whilst we hunt?"

Dean was ready to give a loud and obnoxious answer when the Fledgling vanished and re-appeared in Sam's breakfast, distracting the younger Winchester long enough to stop them fighting. Damn angel, Dean thought, there was some sort of brain in all those feathers.

"Look, we can just go somewhere close by, come by and check on it every so often; that's not so bad right? A compromise" Sam bargained, and Dean would bet his bacon that Sam wouldn't be so compromising if he didn't have a hand on the Fledgling, wiping bits of food from the feathers.

"Fine. We'll do that" Dean huffed.

"Fine"

The Fledgling materialised into Dean's breakfast that time as a warning signal and both men decided to just drop it and get going, and as they were leaving, Dean thought he heard a very familiar whoosh of feathers, but the door shut before he could look back.

It was checking up on the Fledgling that made Dean see the changes that Sam saw. At first he noticed, arriving back in the bunker, that the Fledgling had changed shape; it had gone from a sphere to more of an almond shape, and it was indeed a little bigger. Dean made sure it was okay before leaving to pick the hunt back up where he left it.

The next four times Dean couldn't deny that the Fledgling had grown. It had gone from the size of his palm to just about able to sit in the nook of his arm, and the feathers had darkened. The light blues were now navy, the blacks even darker, and the whites simply weren't there any more. And every time Dean shut the door, he heard a whoosh of feathers that he knew he had heard before. Each time he had pushed the memory back before things got angsty, and returned to Sam to finish his job.

"My God" Sam gasped, when they returned to the Bunker after wrapping up the hunt. The Fledgling was sat on the floor near the table, and it was almost double the size it was before. When Dean approached, it reached his hip, and even next to Sam, Dean wasn't a small guy.

"What the hell? Has it been eating? How's it growing like that?" Dean demanded, touching the feathers to make sure it was real. The waves of peace and calm that greeted him were very reassuring.

"Dean- its so loud" Sam bellowed, startling Dean so that his hip collided with the corner of the table painfully.

"Son of a bitch- Sam what was that for?" He growled, but Sam just looked at him as if he hadn't heard him.

"Dean I Can't hear you!"

Well, that cleared things up.

"What do you meant you can't- Sam what's wrong?!" Dean demanded, as Sam covered his ears, as if whatever he was hearing was painfully loud.

"The Fledgling- its so loud! Make it stop!" Sam yelled. Dean turned to the Fledgling.

"Come on, you must have an off switch- come on!" Dean growled, kneeling in front of the thing and prying at the feathers. Sam suddenly let out a strangled yell and pulled Dean back.

"Dean stop- you're hurting it"

Dean whipped around to stare his little brother down.

"Hurting it? Its hurting you!" He exclaimed.

"Accidentally, I think. I could hear it Dean, it's Grace, or whatever voices these angels have, but i couldn't understand what it was saying. Just noise, but you hurt it and- it stopped" Sam gasped, rubbing his ears sheepishly. Dean felt guilty. The Fledgling was just a baby angel, it was defenceless and Dean had promised to protect it, and now he hurts it? He tentatively splayed a hand across the rumpled feathers he'd yanked at, stroking them flat again as gently as he could. The Fledgling sent out waves of calm once more, as if to reassure him, and Dean hinted a little forgiveness in there.

"Sorry" He muttered quietly. He heard Sam chuckle.

"Okay Momma Bear, we got work to do, get off your ass and help"

"Brothers" Dean sighed to the Fledgling, patting it once affectionately before getting up and pulling out several books that might stop them from going around in circles once and for all.


	4. Hatching

It was another few weeks before Dean and Sam heard word of Cas. Dean and Sam had been trying to find out more about Fledglings and how they worked, because the Fledgling had stopped growing (now up to Dean's elbow), each feather was rustling as if it was in a light breeze, and every so often, something shifted, and Dean could see light through a gap in the feathers. It wasn't a harsh light, but still Dean couldn't look at it properly without having purple blotches distorting his vision for the next few hours. Sam and Dean had bonded with the Fledgling, and one afternoon they were having a heated discussion about what gender it would have.

"It just feels like a girl" Dean said, and Sam scoffed.

"Dude, remember what Cas said? Angels don't have genders, they just take on whatever their vessels are. The Fledgling is just a celestial being; it isn't bound by our boxes"

"I know, but if it was, it would totally be female"

"Do you even listen to me?"

"Only when you're not boring- no, I don't listen to you"

Sam tossed a light book at Dean, who caught it easily, and the Fledgling jerked next to him.

"What's wrong with you? We're not fighting" Dean said, and again the Fledgling jerked. This was the most it's ever actually moved, and Dean glanced at Sam worriedly.

"What do you think- oh, my God" Sam breathed. Dean leaned forward to see what he was looking at. Through the gap in the feathers, where the light usually was, a hand was tentatively reaching out, fingers stretching.

"A hand? I thought it was a celestial being!" Dean yelped. Sam shrugged.

"I don't know man, this isn't exactly written down in a handbook! What do we do?" He cried.

"Hell if I know! Screw all this waiting around, I'm calling Cas"Dean grunted, and stood.

"Cas isn't answering your prayers Dean, you said so yourself"

"I'm not praying, I'm actually calling him. Where's my phone?"

Sam probably thought Dean was crazy, but for some reason Dean knew that calling Cas might work. He grabbed his phone and punched in the number, tapping impatiently on the desk as the phone rang.

"Dean" Cas' gravelly voice was such a relief to hear after so long, Dean almost sank back into his chair.

"Cas, we got trouble. The Fledgling is-

"Castiel, am I not entertaining you enough, you're actually on the phone whilst I torture you? My my, how rude" A very familiar, very obnoxious English accent rang out down the phone and Dean growled. He'd know that voice anywhere.

"Well, go on then, who's so important that you have to- ah, it's squirrel! Are you gonna come and join the party or not?" Crowley said, and by the sounds of it he'd grabbed the phone from Cas' hand.

"Crowley, you let him go, you stupid son of a bitch, or I'll-"

"Or you'll what? I've been waiting here for you all this time, torturing your little angel to pass the time and you didn't show" He simpered, and Sam stood at the word 'Crowley', mouthing questions to Dean, only for Dean to wave his hand to shut him up whilst he talked.

"Where are you?" He demanded "Tell me"

"Well well, next you'll be asking what I'm wearing. I'm not too far away, I'll send you the address. Don't keep us waiting Dean, I'm sure Cassie here is on his last legs"

Dean was partway through yelling a strongly worded insult down the phone when Crowley hung up. Dean reeled, grabbing his jacket forcefully and striding towards the door. Sam pulled at his shoulder.

"Dean stop! Think about this!" Sam cried.

"Think about what? That dick has Cas" Dean growled.

"Dean, he's manipulating you, don't you see it?!" Sam exclaimed. Dean stopped and glared, just wanting to get in the car and drive head first into the ass hole who took Cas.

"Look Dean, you're going to Crowley, right? You're probably going to be in danger. If you go after Cas, who do you think will go after you?" Sam asked, and gestured behind him, to where the Fledgling was rocking slightly, hand still reached out toward them, grabbing slowly at thin air.

"So?" Dean growled. Sam let out a humourless laugh.

"So? What did Crowley want in the first place? We don't have to be angel experts to know that the Fledgling is about to blow, and it can't be anywhere near Crowley when it does. You're gonna hand it right to him if you go"

"Then stay here with it Sam, but I'm not letting Cas get tortured, because like you said before, this is Cas, and he'll always get a free pass" Dean said resolutely, and walked right out of the door, ignoring Sam's tortured groan, probably wondering why his brother was so stupid. Dean got into the Impala and checked his phone, which had received Crowley's location, and he put his foot down. All anger toward Cas had melted away for a second, replaced by anger toward Crowley and the need to get the angel out of there. Dean worried as he drove, mentally taking stock of all the weapons in his trunk that could come in handy. This time, he wasn't going to let Crowley go.

Dean arrived at the Crossroads to find Cas bloody, trapped in a circle of holy fire, Crowley delightedly walking around it whilst turning an angel blade between his fingers. He turned at the sound of the Impala's engine and grinned slyly.

"Finally, we were beginning to wonder if you'd ever show up! Where's the moose?"

"We both know you're not really interested, so lets cut to the chase. Let Cas go" Dean ordered, getting out of the car and pulling out his demon killing knife. Crowley just laughed.

"Really? That's it? A few strong words, barking out your orders; really Darling, you don't know how to put on a show" Crowley tutted, and Dean gritted his teeth.

"I don't need a show to kill you, idiot"

"Now, don't give away the ending, that's just rude"

"Dean. You need to leave" Cas called from the holy fire, staring Dean down and looking desperate. Dean couldn't escape the blue eyes, and he gripped his knife tighter to keep him focused.

"Ah, why's that then?" Crowley asked "Is there a gift about to be express delivered to me? Do stay Dean, I'm ever so curious"

Dean was just about done with Crowley and his stupid remarks, so he ran at the demon, feeling the adrenaline and the pleasure building at the thought of gutting the guy. Crowley, since he was a coward, vanished and appeared a few feet to Dean's left.

"You're a total coward, jackass" Dean growled, turning and charging again.

"Dean, stop, he's just stalling! Go back and protect the Fledgling" Cas yelled, his voice loosing some of that controlled authority and just sounding pitiful.

"You lost your right to tell me what to do when you left Cas, now shut your mouth" Was Dean's reply, and he could almost sense the disappointment and hurt on Cas' face. Maybe spending so much time around his Fledgling had enabled Dean to be able to sense angel emotions.

"Dean- NO!" Cas bellowed, as something slammed into the back of Crowley's legs. It was a huge frame, and a pile of feathers. Dean stopped as Crowley balanced himself, looking triumphant.

"I don't need this" He said, and flicked his hand, and Sam Winchester's neck snapped. The man slumped back down and Dean's stomach turned violently, every cell in his body screamed out in protest. No, not Sammy. Anger like he'd never felt it swelled in Dean, spurred on by the wave of grief that slammed into him like an eighteen wheeler, and the fact that now, Crowley had his filthy hands on the Fledgling.

"Don't you dare" Dean tried to sound threatening, holding his knife to Crowley's throat, but his hand trembled and his voice was thick with emotion. Crowley rolled his eyes.

"Oh Dean, family was always your problem wasn't it? I'll fix it for you. Look, I'm already getting rid of it for you" Crowley teased, nodding at Sam's body. His hazel eyes were glassy and fixed on the never ending road ahead of him, mouth slightly agape and Dean couldn't even look at him any more. Sam wasn't there any more. Crowley used Dean's distraction as an advantage, and used his demon power to throw him onto the hood of the impala. Dean could see him closing his fist slowly, and Dean was pressed into the metal, a huge force on his chest and the hood crumpled painfully beneath him, cutting into him and the pressure was cutting off his oxygen. Crowley, now satisfied that Dean wasn't going to be able to get up from the hood, turned back to the Fledgling. He saw the reaching hand, searching for the people who'd cared for it since it's descent to earth, and frowned. He too was wondering why a celestial being had a very human hand. He pulled out a red hot iron rod from his jacket, and pressed it onto the back of the hand, burning an open devil's trap onto the skin. The Fledgling made no noise, but the hand shot back inside the feathers, jerking away from the heat. Crowley chuckled, and Dean struggled, and Cas cried silently, unable to do anything at all apart from watch and he wished that if they were all to die, Crowley would get it over with.

"Now, lets see here... Why aren't you like the others?" Crowley wondered, bending down to look at the glow under the feathers.

"Because you took it, Crowley. You took it from Heaven and that's had an effect on everything about it. Return it to us, before this goes too far"

"Goes too far?! Its already gone off the scale" Dean choked, craning his neck to watch Sam. Crowley ignored the both of them.

"I wonder. How strong would a human fledgling be? Weaker than a normal Fledgling? Or more dangerous than an angel? Hell will rise high with a weapon like this" He crooned, stroking the feathers. He didn't see the hand shoot out before it was too late. The Fledging had grabbed hold of his collar, holding so tightly that Crowley chocked a little. Dean was able to lift his head a fraction, to watch as two feet began to hold the feathers above the ground, getting longer and longer as the extended. The hand dragged Crowley up with it.

"Not- a- WEAPON!"

And then, all Dean saw was white.


	5. Meeting

"Dean. Dean, wake up"

Dean groaned. His body was aching terribly, his muscles protesting even when he was lay completely still.

"Sam. Not Sam-

"Dean, its okay. We can heal him"

"Cas?"

Dean opened one bleary eye, and saw Cas standing over him, casting a dark shadow on him. Cas placed a hand to Dean's face and all the pain vanished, allowing Dean to sit up from the wreck of his car.

"Hello Dean" Cas greeted him with his usual formal tone, all worry lines fading from his face when he saw that Dean was okay. Dean glanced over to where he remembered seeing Sam, dead on the floor, and the air caught in his throat once more when he saw him.

"Cas. Can you-"

"Of course, Dean" Cas said gently, and Dean watched intently as Cas stooped down and placed two fingers to Sam's forehead, and the hazel eyes blinked, Sam jumping upright quickly. Dean felt a rush of relief and happiness at seeing his little brother alive, and a smile broke out onto his face.

"What the- the Fledgling grabbed me, I saw- Was I dead?!"

"Yes, and we were almost, too" Cas said.

"Wait- where's the Fledgling? What the hell happened?" Sam demanded, looking around at the chaos surrounding them. Dean looked too, and saw that the crossroad had been obliterated, the trees around it now horizontal. Some patches of dirt were scorched and some parts on fire, in a perfect circle, and at the centre-

"The Fledgling has changed form" Cas announced. The feathers were very loose now, as if they were draped over something. Dean slid off the hood of the impala and he and Sam followed as Cas approached the feathers.

"Son of a bitch" Dean gasped. Cas had put his hand on the feathers and they moved, drawing up to form two wings, folding behind a small naked figure. She was a young girl, (around sixteen maybe?), and Dean was stopped in his tracks as he took her in. Her hair was just like Sam's; light and far too long, reaching past her chest and thankfully covering anything personal. Her skin was pale and soft, and the perfectly straight nose obviously also came from Sam. It was when she looked up, however, that took Dean by surprise. Gazing up at them through long lashes were two odd eyes; one a startling green, and one a brilliant blue.

"But- isn't she- why is she human?" Dean spluttered. Cas frowned for a moment.

"She must have built that body when he grace was released. Of course, the only people she knew well enough to make a face from was us-"

"Wait, us? You haven't been looking after her!" Dean protested, and Cas sighed.

"On the contrary, I spent a lot of time with the Fledgling whilst you were out hunting" He said. Dean almost exploded right there. Cas had been there, and not even had the decency to tell them? Not told Dean that he wasn't dead?

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Dean" Sam warned.

"No! You were there and you never bothered to say so? What the hell is wrong with you Cas?! I can't believe you-"

"Dee" A voice said. Dean stopped his rant mid-sentence to hear the voice. It reminded him of the calm waves he was often given when in contact with the Fledgling, and he glanced at her. She seemed to have trouble saying his name, her mouth awkwardly spitting it out.

"What?" He growled.

"No" Was her answer. Dean didn't know why, but he found his mouth snapping shut. Cas knelt by the Fledgling and shrugged out of his coat, helping her put it on. Her huge wings seemed to melt through the material, ruffling slightly as she moved.

"What do you know, you were actually right. It is a girl" Sam sighed. Once Dean had calmed down a little he would make sure to remind Sam that he was right at every possibility. The Fledgling stood on shaky legs and fixed her eyes on all three men, one at a time, with a very familiar angel-intense focus.

"Dee" She said slowly, and Dean nodded "Sam" She continued, and Sam did the same, but with a small smile "Casti-iel"

"Just call me Cas" Cas suggested.

"Casti" She repeated.

"Or... don't. What is your name?" Cas asked. The Fledgling looked at him blankly.

"You don't know?" He asked again.

"Dude, she's just been like, born, how could she know?" Dean asked.

"Angels are meant to know their name when they are born, and when they speak it their job is given to them. If she doesn't know her name then she cannot be a part of a garrison and Heaven would never accept her" Cas explained. Dean whistled.

"Well, she could always stay with us, right?"

The Fledgling's wings perked up at that, feathers quivering, and Dean chuckled. Sam smiled a little too.

"Guess that's settled. We should really get going, before Crowley comes back. Where did he go, anyway?" Sam asked. Dean shrugged.

"Dunno, be he should stay gone if he knows what's good for him. Fledgling? Can you walk?" He asked, and she took a few careful steps.

"Y-yes. I can... walk" She answered, struggling with the words just as she had before. As if they were foreign to her.

"She cannot speak proper English, she'd be expected to speak Enochian at such a young age in Heaven. And without a vessel, she has nothing to base her speech on, no memories or anything. We will have to teach her" Cas supplied, noticing both Dean and Sam's confused glances.

"Oh, so you're actually gonna stay? You sure?" Dean quipped, and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I am. Problem?" Cas asked.

"No, no problem, no problem at all" Dean droned. The Fledgling put a hand on his arm, and he stopped talking again.

"No- fight" She told him, and he sighed. Dean turned, ready to get in the car and drive everyone home, when rage boiled in him. His beautiful car was crumpled, the hood bent into the engine and Dean knew that it would've done some damage, probably not fit to drive.

"I swear when I find that ass hole I'm gonna ram my knife up his ass!" Dean growled. No one, not a single person, got away with damaging his car. Sam simply scratched the thing once and Dean made sure that he was in pain for a week. Cas just put a hand on Sam's shoulder, and the Fledgling grabbed Dean's arm a little tighter, and everything disappeared at once, speeding away in a flash of colour before the familiar scene of the bunker formed around him.

"Your car is repaired and outside" Cas announced. Dean still sulked. That wasn't the point, Crowley still damaged her; Dean was still gonna punch him next time he saw him. Knowing them, it probably wouldn't be that long a wait. The Fledgling looked around appreciatively, probably recognising the familiar setting, and promptly climbed up onto the table and sat down, knees tucked under her and wings neatly folded against her back.

"Uh, I think you're a little big to be on the table" Sam told her. She pouted.

"Don't like- chair" She replied, and gave the chairs around the table a glare to prove her point. Sam frowned, torn between amusement and confusion as he sat down and pulled out Kevin's notes on the demon tablet, even though Dean was sure there was nothing to discover from them. Whatever kept Sammy happy, he guessed. Meanwhile he was fuming about several things, one of them being the single blue feather that was on the floor near his foot.


	6. naming

**Hello! Sorry I've been away so long, I've had several shows to do and decided to start watching teen wolf, which meant i really haven't done anything else for days on end. Plus, it was my birthday yesterday and I got animal crossing, so my life has literally been distraction after distraction! I haven't forgotten though, so here's another chapter! Enjoy, and please send me your reviews, I love hearing from you! **

The Fledgling was like a dog in a new house; she had to explore all of it before she really settled down. She had already disappeared off the table and was walking around the place, looking under the table and peering into books she'd pulled from the shelves. Cas reassured them that she was just familiarising herself; it wouldn't always be her exploring everything, from the kitchen cupboards to Dean's underwear draw, which he had hastily steered her away from, scowling as Sam laughed at him openly. As night came around and everyone tired, they headed off to bed. Dean walked off toward his room in a comfortable drowsiness, only to get the uneasy feeling that he was being followed. Upon turning around, he came face to face with the Fledgling. She was simply staring at him, and he frowned.

"What?" He asked. No reply. He kinda expected that, but he was still a little weirded out. The fledgling continued to follow him right to his bedroom door, and he realised what she wanted.

"Uh, no. You can't come in here" He said, and her wings drooped. Great, she'll probably already have the 'kicked puppy' look nailed just for moments like these, Dean thought. He was right of course; the odd eyes were skilled at looking like he'd done some terrible crime against them and Dean cursed himself for being so soft.

"Sorry, okay, but It's kinda weird sharing a bed with you now you're... human" He said. When the Fledgling was simply feathers it was easy to place her in the nook of his arm and sleep but now- well she was a human wearing only Cas' trench coat and Dean would feel a little like a paedophile and a whole lot uncomfortable sharing a bed with her.

In the end, he'd shut the door and gone to bed, not knowing that like Cas, she didn't just leave; she was just stood staring at the door as if he was going to come back and let her in. Sam eventually came by and took pity on her, being a whole lot more mature than Dean he knew this was different than normal circumstances, so he'd taken the Fledgling to his room and gave her some of his old clothes that he'd grown out of (they totally drowned her, but at least she was wearing something) and she stayed with him, and Sam was sure it was the best night's sleep he'd ever had. In the morning he told Dean to stop being childish and the older brother scowled as Cas helped the Fledgling roll up the massive sleeves that he eaten her hands.

The Fledgling was a quiet person and often, like Cas, she sat and watched as Dean and Sam went about their daily business, sometimes repeating their actions curiously. Sam was trying to teach the Fledgling to read and speak, having a tough time with it as the Fledgling was basically like a toddler with wings.

"Okay, so, say what I've just told you" He instructed, a smile playing on his face.

"Dee is a asswiper" The Fledgling said, and Dean rolled his eyes whilst Sam sighed.

"Almost. You got the general gist of it" He said, and the fledgling nodded, looking very proud of herself.

"All right, now you're done teaching her to insult me, how about some food?" Dean suggested. The fledgling turned and nodded, following as Dean made his way to the kitchen. She didn't eat a lot, and she certainly was not allowed to cook (there was a constant danger of setting her wings on fire or trapping them in the oven or something) but the Fledgling seemed to enjoy sitting on the least busiest counter and watching as Dean whipped up some food. Dean supposed it was because of the awesome tunes he sang, but the smell of him cooking meat was also to die for.

All in all, it was getting used to having a baby angel living with them that was the hardest part of all of this. The fledgling already had their trust and hell Dean loved having her around for some reason, so it wasn't just him and Sam and Cas working all the time. He had no idea where Cas was now but Dean knew he was close by; he could feel it like a warmth in his bones. God dammit, he had an angel radar now. He was sure that when he quietly cursed at this he heard the Fledgling giggling at him.

"Guys, dinner!" Dean yelled, returning to the table with four burritos on plates. Cas materialised in his seat across from Dean's and eyed the burrito curiously, as if he'd never- scratch that, the dude probably never had seen a burrito before. The Fledgling seated herself next to Dean, squirming as her wings were pressed into the chair uncomfortably. She sniffed at the burrito and took a bite.

"It is- hungry" She said. Sam frowned. Dean smiled fondly; he was trying to act like he didn't find that as cute as hell and failing miserably. Cas too, had a sparkle in his eye as he quietly ate his dinner.

"Uh, do you mean tasty?" Sam asked. She nodded.

"Yes" Came the reply, and Dean chuckled, Sam tutting at him half-heartedly.

"I think we should give the Fledgling a name" Cas announced suddenly, and the Fledgling's wings rustled nervously.

"Like what?" Dean asked. What sort of name could you give an angel? Wouldn't have to be something all high and mighty and weird? Dean thought. Apart from Anna, he hadn't really met an angel with a real common name. He guessed Naomi or Gabriel could be, but Castiel certainly wasn't a name you could look up in a baby name booklet, and he was pretty sure there were angels with even weirder names up in heaven.

"We could go online, look on a 'religious name' website. There's thousands on google" Sam said with a shrug, digging into his burrito like a man starved. Dean was relieved to see him eat like that again, and meat too! He'd been sure for a while that Sam was a closet vegetarian. Hang on- how did Sam know there were religious baby name sights? The man could be watching porn and instead he's looking at names? Jeez, Dean worried for him sometimes.

"We'll look later, right now I need to finish my food, I'm starving" Dean growled, and began tearing into his own food.

"Star-ving?" The fledgling asked.

"It means hungry. Dean is hungry, so he's eating. Do you understand?" Cas asked. The fledgling nodded.

"Hungry- star..ving. Yes" She replied, and carried on picking at her own food, wings perked up again. Dean had paid special attention to the Fledgling's wings since she'd come home; they were a direct link to her emotions he'd learned. When he'd offered her a home here they'd perked up, which meant she was happy. Sometimes the feathers would move as if caught in a light breeze; contentment. and then when she was surprised or scared her wings would either close in on her or spread out behind her. It made it much easier for Dean to understand what she wanted when she couldn't say it.

After dinner, Dean booted up Sam's laptop and tried to ignore Cas, who'd seated himself next to him- far too close- and was leaning over Dean's shoulder at the screen. It wasn't a bad uncomfortable- just an unfamiliar one. Cas and Dean weren't normally in such close proximity but when they were you could be damn sure that Cas was the one who'd caused it. Sam was sat across from them with the Fledgling, who'd reluctantly let him straighten the feathers on her wings. Cas' eyes would dart to them every so often out of curiosity, and Dean smiled as the Fledgling's wings rustled; she was content, like a cat being petted. Sam looked entranced, and was trying to be very gentle, as his huge hands looked like they could pull several delicate feathers out if he wasn't careful. Dean turned back to the computer and searched 'religious baby names' on google, clicking on the first result and going on the girl's options. The first name up was Abigail.

"That one seems right, lets go with that one" Dean said easily.

"Dean, you can't just choose the first name you see; that's lazy" Cas chided.

"Why not? It mean's the father's joy, and its a nice name, and we could nickname her-"

"You can't just name her Abigail that's just-"

"Abigail? That's nice" Sam piped up, and Dean smirked as Cas scowled. Thank you Sam, he thought.

"Scroll down" He ordered. Dean chuckled and obliged, but looked across at the Fledgling.

"Hey, you wanna be called Abigail? We could nickname you Abbie" He said. Cas was ready to protest, but the Fledgling tilted her head in consideration. That's it, screw the puppy eyes, that's what gets Dean; angel head- tilts. Adorable as hell, they had hit a soft spot every time, especially when Cas did it. Dean prayed he never found out or Cas would use it to his advantage.

"Abbie. Abbie. I am Abbie?" The Fledgling asked. Dean looked triumphantly at Cas who was now wearing his smiting face. Dean tried not to laugh.

"Yep, you're Abbie, do you like it?" Dean asked. Cas glared at him. Dean smiled smugly as the fledgling nodded.

"Yes, Dee" She said.

Dean was pretty sure Cas gave him daggers for the next four hours, until Dean cheered him up with a burger and some pie. Abbie did a head-tilt at him, and Cas decided to let the whole thing go. Dean made sure he never underestimated the power of a good head-tilt.


	7. hunting

**Oh God, its been too long! Had a bit of writer's block and I joined a forum, so every time I came on this website to write I ended up there. Oops! And my o button is a little jammed, so if there's any missing just tell me!**

It took Cas a few attempts to convince Dean to take Abbie on a hunt with them. Dean was totally against it, he wasn't having Abbie on the front line and that was final. She was just a kid! Cas however, was being awfully rebellious lately, and one night he proved to Dean that Abbie wasn't useless.

"Abigail, show Dean what you know" Cas instructed. Abbie picked up a gun, loaded it, pulled safety catch off and back on again, and shot a glass off the table. She then produced an angel blade from her jacket (Sam and Dean had bought her some new clothes; she couldn't wear huge old t-shirts forever) and showed it to them.

"Weapon" Abbie said, gesturing to the shining silver blade. Dean sighed.

"I know what you're trying to do Cas, and the answer is still no" He said, and Cas shrugged.

"She needs to learn Dean; this will help keep her safe"

"By taking her into a wild goose chase that normally almost kills us, never mind her? Cas, I don't want to hurt her" Dean argued. He'd already hurt her feelings by snapping about her wings, which were leaving feathers everywhere. The look she had given him broke his heart a little, and he didn't wanna see it ever again. Cas looked as stubborn as Dean felt, and he had a feeling this could last a while.

"Dee- I want to go" Abbie said, dropping the gun and the blade and crossing her arms.

"You're just a kid" Dean protested.

"A Fledgling- I am power- to go" She said.

"Dean, maybe we could find a simple salt and burn case and bring her along-" Sam began, but Dean snapped.

"No way! That's how it started for us, Sammy. Dad let us on a simple salt and burn case, and we never went back. I'm not having Abbie raised into this, not like we were"

"What else is she supposed to do Dean? She's an angel who can't go to Heaven, who's being hunted by hell and you want to just keep her here? Lock her away? She won't be a hunter, she'll just be a prisoner" Cas said coldly, and Dean bristled.

"Better than what we went through" He grumbled.

"I don't agree" Cas snapped, and Abbie sighed.

"Stop fight. Stop hurt everyone. Dee I want hunting, I want learning fighting- to protect- family. Protect you" She said. Oh great, Dean thought, she's inherited the 'die for your loved ones' trait that killed him, Sam and Cas several times over. She wasn't even biologically theirs- just being around them had that effect.

It turned out three against one, so a very grouchy Dean drove the full Impala a few miles from base to a case; a ghost was killing people (the usual) and it was simple enough for Abbie to join them on her first ever hunt.

"This is just observing you got that? No interfering" Dean ordered, when they stopped. He received two eye-rolls and a ruffling of dejected feathers before he'd had enough and got out of the car. Sam followed, and Cas and Abbie trailed behind, Cas quietly explaining what they were doing. Dean thought he heard some unfamiliar language in there, and he guessed that Cas was speaking to Abbie in Enochian at times; she didn't fully understand plain English just yet.

"Okay Sam and Abbie you go and research, Cas and I will question family members" Dean said, and Sam sighed.

"You might want to re-think that, genius; Abbie can't read, not well enough for research. She can just get through a few lines of the hungry hungry caterpillar" He replied, and Dean shrugged.

"Can't be a hunter if you can't research" Dean said airily. Sam just muttered something offensive under his breath and stalked away, Abbie following. She was wearing a hiking rucksack on her back, which had been cut open so that her wings could fold up inside when she put it on. Better to think she was a tourist rather than an angel, Dean said when he suggested it to her, and eventually she agreed, although he learned that she'd also mastered one of Sam's speciality bitch faces when he finally managed to convince her to try it on. He'd rather have the puppy eyes any day.

Dean thought he could keep Abbie safeand busy by giving her the easy jobs and finish the hunt without her by keeping her busy with other things; but then, his plans always went awry. He and Sam were digging up the ghost's bones when it attacked them, somehow managing to leave the house it was haunting and find them. Sam was knocked out and Dean was separated from his gun. He was ready to pray to Cas for a last minute rescue when everything was lit up a radiant white; for a moment night turned to day and the birds began to tweet in confusion and waves of peace and calm washed over Dean like a blanket. When the light died Abbie was stood over ashes of bone, rucksack in tatters in the dirt, staring down at what she'd done. She wasn't breathing heavily, or confused, she was simply stood expressionless, as if she'd expected what had happened. Cas appeared moments later, healing both Dean and Sam and looking triumphant.

"She let out her true form when the danger became too much. Of course, there has been damages, but maybe you'll realise now that she is not defenceless, Dean" He said, and Dean looked around. Trees looked a little dead, birds now silent and probably roasted. Upon closer investigation, all the water in the town had dried out (until Cas intervened of course). Dean piled everyone into the Impala and drove them home, Abbie smiling a little.

"Will you teach?" She asked.

"teach what?" Sam asked.

"Me- to fight and- control- true form" She replied.

"I'll teach you about your angel powers, but I think Dean should teach you how to fight" Cas told her.

"Whoa, I didn't want her to hunt, never mind fight! No way man, I'm not doing that" He argued.

"She has to learn from us somehow Dean. Cas will teach her angel stuff, I'm teaching her human stuff- you need to teach her hunter stuff" Sam said.

"Why are you helping him? You hate this life, you should be trying to get her into a school or something" Dean growled.

"I don't hate this life" Sam mumbled quietly.

The conversation ceased then, because Abbie's wings drooped and she fell sideways, falling asleep against Cas' shoulder. For a being of not much physical affection, Dean thought that Cas looked awfully comfortable with the Fledgling angel-napping on him. Actually, Dean could see him smiling when he peeked through the rear-view mirror. Sam fell silent, not wanting to wake her and Dean finished the drive home, letting Cas carry her inside to Dean's bed. Abbie should have her own room by now, but every time they tried she ended up in theirs, and neither Dean nor Sam complained because her grace vanished their nightmares and let them rest peacefully. Eventually, Dean lied to himself, they would get her to stay in her own room. Somehow he knew that wouldn't happen easily though. Funny how he didn't dwell on that too much, and just shut off the light and headed back into the main room to do some more research and grab a beer.


	8. teaching

**it might be a while before I update again because I'm going on holiday for the whole six weeks and have trouble finding wi-fi, so enjoy this chapter and I'll try and update soon!**

Abbie's training began almost immediately. Lately there was complete silence from the supernatural, something that made Dean very uneasy, but it gave all three of them time to teach Abbie what she needed to know. Sam had begun to teach her to read and write in English, Cas was taking her to some unknown place (probably the basement- Cas had a weird habit of going down there all the time) and teaching Abbie about angel powers and when she wasn't doing that or eating, Dean taught her how to fight. He started with hand-to-hand combat because Dean was in 'mother hen' mode 24/7 after Abbie's first hunt and he wasn't giving her weapons just yet.

"Okay, you need to keep your defence up; I could easily just knock you out" He guided, making sure that Abbie's arms were up but also protecting her lower torso. She seemed to like using her wings to beat the crap out of him instead of her arms, so Dean decided that she could use them to protect her body whilst she hit with her wings. Thanks to Cas, they had become very strong; she managed to knock Dean to the floor with one powerful hit to the back, the wings no longer delicate and soft, but muscled and able to probably kill someone. Dean prayed it wasn't him.

At the end of each Day, Sam would rush to Dean with more 'exciting' news on Abbie's progress.

"She's learned colours, shapes, verbs; apparently she likes swear words a lot, and the colour purple"

"That's my girl" Dean replied, and Sam scowled. At Dinner times they would sit together and Dean felt like a real family; there would be a little joking around, some praise for how well Abbie was doing, the things that Dean assumed came with having a family. He loved finding out what Abbie was able to do and what she actually liked, like colours and what hand she preferred punching someone with and which swear word was her favourite (it was ass, and her reason was because you could put it in front of anything and make it an insult).

They went out on a few more hunts when Dean finally deemed Abbie able to fight on her own. There were three muttered 'finally's as they left the bunker and drove south, and one sharp tap on the back of his head with a wing. He pretended that it didn't hurt that much and gingerly got into the driver's seat in front of the culprit, who was smirking at him in the mirror. Dean drove further away each time, and soon it didn't seem such a bad idea to have two angels hunting with them. Cas was a Godsend (no pun intended) who always pointed them in the right direction and kicked ass when things got tough. Abbie was good at sneaking into places and grabbing much needed info. The only thing she wasn't the best at was lying. At first she was like Cas; too literal, telling sherrifs and FBI agents she was a fledgling helping two hunters track a monster. She learned of course, but then she told the truth as she saw it, and one time it made him proud, embarrassed, and annoyed at his little brother.

It was at a store that it happened. It was Abbie's turn to go forwards and ask the questions, dressed in a smart skirt and blazer, wings folded into yet another bag, but this time a lot smaller; she'd learned to compact her wings despite them being more muscled. The questioning started very well; Abbie asked all the right things and as they listened from afar, Dean, Cas and Sam were getting all the info they needed.

"Oh, are those your superior officers making sure you do okay? They seem to be keeping an eye on you" The woman who owned the store asked, and Abbie frowned.

"No, they are my family" She said. Dean was ready to step in and begin lying about the whole 'oh we're all like family in the FBI', but Cas held him back.

"Really? Three men? Where's your mother?" The woman asked.

"I don't have a mother. I have an uncle Sam, and Dean and Cas are my dads"

Dean almost choked from inhaling so suddenly, whilst Sam snorted and Cas frowned. The shopkeeper had a surprised look on her face as she glanced over at them, and then smiled.

"Well, how very modern of you. Is that all the questions you have for me? We're closing soon.."

Dean barely had anything to say when Abbie returned to them and they left the store, he could only open his mouth like a fish, find out he was having some trouble saying anything, and close it again. Sam was still laughing, putting an arm over Abbie's shoulders.

"Did I do good Uncle Sam?" Abbie asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, and I'm glad you remember all the family titles. Good job" He praised, and Dean heard feathers brushing against the inside of her bag.

"You-you told her we were- both her dads?" He asked at last.

"Nope. She said that herself. I told her I was her uncle though; she can't have three dads, that would be weird"

"So is two!" Dean exclaimed "I mean- no its not, just-"

"Just what Dean?" Sam asked. Dean sighed.

"Just us two. An angel and a hunter, the parents of a Fledgling, are you serious?" He asked, because he couldn't imagine him and Cas being the parents of anything, and certainly not the same anything.

"I don't see anything wrong with it Dean. If Abigail thinks of us as her parents we should be honoured" Cas piped up, smiling slightly. Sam nodded, and Abbie squeezed his hand, calming the thoughts about what people would say to him, what that shopkeeper must have been thinking, to nicer thoughts, like the fact that Abbie thought of him like a parent; and what could be better than that?

"Dad. I don't think I'll call you dad, it doesn't suit you. I like Dee" Abbie said, and Dean chuckled.

"You can call me what you want Abbie, it won't make any difference"

"Call him 'asshat" Sam muttered. Dean rolled his eyes.

"Don't call me that. Unless you call Sam a little bitch"

Abbie and Cas laughed whilst Sam scowled, and they headed back to the car. Dean turned on some rock tunes and began singing along, Sam for once actually joining in (very quietly, but it was a start!) whilst Cas listened and Abbie had trouble knowing the words so sort of hummed along tunelessly. It was a great way to end a day, however when they got to their motel, they had company.

"Kevin?!" Dean asked, as they entered the first room to find the prophet of the lord sat on Sam's bed. Considering he'd been missing for quite a while now he seemed perfectly fine, a little tired, a little scared but overall in good health. There was another man at the table, an older smaller man who was reading a book. He looked up at Dean's cry, and smiled.

"Well, you took your time!" He said kindly, but Kevin flinched a little, and tried for a smile.

"Who're you? Kevin are you all right?" Dean asked.

"Well, considering he was in Crowley's gentle care, I'd say no. My name is Metatron. I'm the scribe of God" The man said, and Sam and Cas gasped, whilst Abbie stepped forward curiously.

"Metatron" She said, tasting the word on her tongue.

"My my, a fledgling! What are you doing so far from home, little one?" He asked, a gleam in his eye that Dean both hated and couldn't understand.

"I should ask you- the same" Was her reply.

"What are you doing here?" Cas asked curiously, and he smiled.

"Well I thought I'd save the prophet, and give you your third trial, however, you won't like it!" He said, and Kevin looked at Dean wildly, probably still shook up from Crowley's company, but Dean couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Sam nodded.

"I'm ready. What is it?" He demanded. Metatron sighed.

"Dear boy, how bad I feel for doing this to you and my kind, but you must sacrifice an angel. And it must be a pure, young angel, who has committed no true harm to humanity" He said, and he directed his gaze to Abbie, and slowly it dawned on Sam's face what he was saying, and on Cas', and Dean's. Everything suddenly turned cold and dark, and Dean's hand shot to his forehead, praying that this was a joke.

"Abbigail" Was Cas' only word on the matter, and Dean was too shook up to notice Kevin's desperate glances at him and Sam, or Metatron's toothy grin. All he saw was Abbie, and all he thought was how much of a messed up situation he was in.


	9. sacrificing

**I'M BACK! It seems like forever since i've had internet *wail*, but I got home last night and thought it was high time for another chapter. Yay! So, enjoy, I hope a summer away from the internet has given me inspiration and not just boredom. Though probably not.**

"Dean?"

Dean didn't respond to Cas, didn't even move to show he'd heard the worried angel. His eyes were fixed on the scene before him; Metatron was humming from his seat, far too happy for Dean's liking. Kevin was desperately trying to catch Dean's eye to no avail, although Dean was sure he should really be asking the poor kid if he needed therapy or something after so long with a bastard like Crowley. Sam had sunk onto a bed and buried his face in his hands, eyes wide open and staring at the old carpet under his massive feet. Abbie was looking around at all the faces in the room, and sighing.

"When?" She asked quietly. She still had that weird accent that went with being fluent in Enochian and not English. Metatron smiled.

"Soon I'm afraid, my dear fledgling. As soon as possible" He told her, and Dean heard the rustling of feathers from inside her bag.

"No" Dean said, as clearly as he could. He wasn't going to stand by and let this happen. He wasn't going to let Abbie get killed for this. She was just a little kid, the only thing in Dean's life that he was sure wasn't going to be taken away because he sure as hell wasn't going to let anything happen to her. She was innocent and full of hope. Dean wanted something in his life that had never been broken and she was it. One thing he didn't have to fix. Metatron seemed amused.

"Dean Winchester. I wish I'd been chosen to be the scribe to write down your life. Such a fascinating story. But, God didn't wish it so, and so it was not. You can't just refuse to let this happen Dean, it's for the greater good, and it isn't really your storyline" He said, looking at Dean with interest. Dean scowled.

"To hell with whose storyline it is, Abbie ain't dying, you got that? Get another angel" He spat. Metatron sighed, and Kevin flinched. His eyes darted to anyone in the room but Metatron.

"There aren't any others. The Fledglings have hatched, Heaven will have moulded them into soldiers already. Abbie hasn't been to heaven, not the main part anyway. She is the perfect sacrifice to close the gates of hell"

"But how does that work? How will killing a fledgling close hell?" Cas demanded, some of that angelic fury seeping out of him. Dean felt a little reassured. Cas would help fix this. Cas could help Dean stop this.

"Her grace of course. You haven't seen Abigail's grace that often have you? She's a time bomb; and when she goes off, the explosion is enough to slam hell shut and seal it tight for eternity. A Fledgling is much less controlled than an angel; much more dangerous-

"I am-right here" Abbie piped up, and Metatron chuckled.

"Sorry Fledgling. I feel bad; we angels live for millennia, and you don't even get one year" He replied gently, and she shrugged.

"I would rather die- for a cause than- live without purpose" She replied, choosing the right words from the ones that Sam had taught her. Dean didn't agree.

"Abbie, don't say you're agreeing to this! You're not dying!" He snapped. Sam looked up.

"Don't Abbie. Please" He said.

"Dee. Sam. Casti. I want to- help" She said. Dean growled. She did help- she helped them sleep and get through the day, she vanished every bad dream that Sam and Dean had. Her cause was being one more thing that Dean had to fight for. Wasn't that enough?

"It seems, you've given her the Winchester attitude, like you did with Castiel. She will die at the drop of a hat to save people" Metatron said. He seemed happy about it. Dean was just mad.

"Well she's not, you got that you son of a bitch?! She's not dying, not today, not whilst I'm around. You're gonna have to find someone else" Dean argued, putting a hand on Abbie's shoulder.

"Dee. I will save the people" She said quietly.

"You don't owe them anything. We'll figure something out" He replied gruffly.

"No. You need to close hell. All I have to do- is die. Why can't I?"

"We need you Abbie, you're our fledgling and our family. I don't wanna lose you. I'm not letting you die"

Dean scowled as Abbie pulled a very stubborn looking face and cursed how very much like them she was. Spending so much time around Sam, Dean and Cas, Abbie had learned how to sacrifice, and now she was hell bent on doing so. For people she didn't even know. Dean despaired silently as Cas began his argument, and sat with Sam. The poor guy looked traumatised. He'd have to kill her and slam the gates with her grace. Sam would never recover from that, would he? Killing the angel who called him Uncle? Dean put a hand on his shoulder and sighed.

"I'll have to kill her Dean. I can't do that" He said quietly, still staring at the floor through his fingers.

"No you won't Sammy, because she's not doing this. I'm not gonna let her, okay?"

Sam didn't seem to believe him, and Dean didn't really believe him either. Metatron was looking at Abbie in a way that sent alarm bells ringing in Dean's head; he was still smiling, but there was no amusement in his eyes. He was looking at her coldly, as if she was another chess piece about to be wiped off the board. Next to him, Kevin was glancing at Dean and then gesturing to Metatron, and shaking his head. Dean began slotting pieces together. He looked up.

"Wait-

"Ah, so its settled! The sacrifice can wait no longer, so I'll give you tonight, and then we'll get it over with. With demons roaming we really can't put this off. Come on Kevin, the boys can begin saying their goodbyes now" Metatron announced with a clap of his hands, and then both of their visitors were gone. Cas, Dean and Abbie all stayed silent for a moment, Dean and Cas' gaze switching between a shaking Sam and the angel he had to kill. Abbie shrugged out of the backpack and let her wings out, and they were shaking too; she was afraid.

"Dee?" She said quietly, and Dean turned to her. He was greeted with two wide mismatched eyes, green and blue, Dean and Cas, and he pulled her in for a tight hug. Abbie never hugged with her arms, but she wrapped her wings around him. Dean had a feeling that this was what happened on those rare occasions that he had hugged Cas, he just never felt it.

"Abbie, I don't want you to do this" He muttered.

"And I don't want you to- get hurt by Crowley. Or demons. I can stop that" She replied.

"Its not your job to protect us Abbie, we're protecting you. That's what dad's do" He told her, and she chuckled.

"And you did it- so well. But its my choice- and I want to save- my home. My family"

Abbie let go of Dean after that and she had quiet discussions with Cas and Sam. She didn't leave Sam's side that night. Dean and Cas sat at the table watching the pair in silence, as Abbie shielded Sam from view by wrapping in her wings. Dean couldn't distinguish words, just quiet mutters behind the feathers. Cas turned to Dean and began watching him for a while, and for once Dean didn't scold him for staring at him so openly. He knew that Cas was looking for a betrayal of emotion on Dean's face, and Dean didn't disappoint. He could tell he looked angry, and upset, and just pissed as he opened another beer. After a few minutes and several strange facial expressions, Cas looked the same. He was trying to express his own anger too, by copying Dean. It was a little odd, but it didn't annoy Dean any more. It was quite endearing. He glanced at Cas and the angel backed away a little, remembering Dean's talk about personal space, but Dean just sighed and patted his shoulder. He wasn't going to yell at Cas now, not when they were both grieving the same thing. Dean could see the dark blues that ran through Abbie's black wings, the greys and the very few whites that dotted the feathers. Every time she moved her wings the pattern changed; sometimes it would be lines of white or the black would be the only colour their, impossibly dark. Dean was trying hard to commit the patterns to memory, to make sure that the feather Abbie had given him a while back was still in his shirt pocket, safe and sound. It was a sign of trust and affection he'd learned, for Abbie to hand him a feather, and he Sam and Cas had one stowed away somewhere. Sam actually had two. Dean wished that didn't make him just a little jealous.

None of them slept that night. Dean and Cas joined Abbie and Sam and Abbie smiled and hugged them all, putting on a brave face and pretending it wasn't really happening. Making them feel better, Dean thought, just like he did when he was going to hell. Just like Sam was when he fell into the pit. Cas, not normally the affectionate type, was embracing the hugging whole heartedly, and Dean couldn't count the number of times he had found himself resting his head on a broad shoulder covered in a tan trench coat. When Metatron came in the morning, he had memorised Cas' scent; like driving through the woods with the windows open just after the rain had stopped.

"Where's Kevin?" Sam asked weakly, looking around as if the prophet would burst out of the bathroom singing broadway or something. Metatron chuckled.

"He's resting. Are you ready?" He asked. The family stiffened and Dean gripped the material of the trench coat, resisting the urge to scream 'no!' and punch Metatron in the face. He learned a while back that punching angels only got you a broken hand. And a bruised ego, but that wasn't the point.

"I am. Sam?" Abbie asked. Sam looked tired and pale and just ill, Dean worried that he wouldn't be able to get up to perform the third trial. However, Sam nodded, and once again Metatron clapped his hands together. Dean hated how chipper the guy was about ripping his family to shreds.

"Okay. We'll need to be somewhere more open than this, so hold tight!" Metatron said, and he reached toward Dean and Sam. Dean felt that uncomfortable feeling that went with angel travel, but it was over within a second, and he found himself in a huge grassy field, completely empty for miles around. Abbie and Cas materialised next to them not seconds later. Metatron pulled an angel blade from his sleeve and handed it to Sam, who took it with shaking hands. Dean wished he had a remote with a stop button, or something that could change what was coming. He didn't want Abbie to die. He didn't want Sam to be the one to kill her. Abbie and Sam walked forward, leaving Dean and Cas behind, to a spot where Abbie's escaping grace wouldn't hurt them. Dean went to hurry toward them but Cas pulled him back with a strong hand, telling him not to because it would hurt him. Metatron vanished and Abbie and Sam faced each other, and Dean could only watch the scene unfold.

"Dean, avert your eyes" Cas warned, as Sam lifted the blade.

"No"

"Dean"

"That's my family Cas, I'm not just gonna-

"Dean!"

Cas had pulled Dean to the floor as the angel blade connected with Abbie's chest. Dean could feel Cas' trench coat being pulled over his head to protect him, but he could still feel the searing heat and see the blinding white through his eyelids. He could still hear that ear throbbing high-pitched noise that was Abbie's angel voice ringing out around him.

"She's screaming" He heard Cas say, and Dean lowered himself flat onto the grass and scrunched his eyes shut.

He didn't open them when the screaming stopped.


	10. surviving

**Hello! Its an update, wow right? I've had writers block and school started and all my teachers are pressuring me because it's GCSE year (its been a week and I already feel like hitting my face on a brick), so the writing has been pushed back a little. But never fear! I will still update, probably less frequently, but eventually I will finish this fic! Enjoy this chapter!**

Apart from the slight confusion, and the tug of pain on her wings, Abbie felt fear. She opened her eyes and the sky was falling. Huge balls of flames were raining down from the heavens, and looking very closely, Abbie yelped; they all had burning wings. They were angels, and they were falling. She couldn't count how many there were speeding to the ground, partly from the scary amount, and partly from the trees obscuring her view from where she was lay. Abbie shifted, trying to keep her wings still, and thought very hard. Sam killed her; that she was painfully aware of. So, if she had been killed, in a very final sort of way, how was she here? She doubted heaven rained fireballs and hell had a sky. This was the earth she remembered. She watched the falling angels curiously, wondering if that was what happened to her. It couldn't be, could it? She had been in that field. She sacrificed herself so hell could be closed. She remembered something more, a sort of nagging feeling in her mind, that something was wrong, but she just couldn't grasp hold of it and discover what it was. She'd have to do some investigating.

Abbie sat up as slow as she possibly could, flinching as her damaged and sore wings brushed against the trees and shrubbery surrounding her. She carefully pulled them in tightly to her back, ignoring the protest she received from them. She looked down at her body; she was still in pristine condition, her bright green dress with but a few splatters of mud, her leather jacket still brand new. Her hair was still long and her face was the same as she felt it. Why were her wings so painful if the rest of her wasn't? How was she alive? These were questions she needed to know the answers to. There was suddenly an alarming amount of light coming from above her, and Abbie had to dive just as Dean often did on hunts to avoid it colliding with her. She slammed into a tree as the fiery ball of a falling angel crash landed, and the tree was blown to the ground, a small circle being flattened and scorched with the angel at the centre. Abbie was able to get up and peek at the carnage; the angel was… well it looked human. That was odd. Castiel had explained that the body she had wasn't her true form, and what she really was was a powerful celestial being like every other angel, like he himself. But this angel wasn't a celestial being. It had two arms and two legs, dressed in a smart suit, with ten fingers and a head like every human had. It seemed to be of the female kind, Abbie realised, as it looked sort of like her body did; small, slim, curved, with long hair and a thinner face. Abbie was cautious as she leaned over the angel, and she gently laid a hand on her shoulder.

The angel woke suddenly as if electrocuted, and she jumped up to face Abbie, fear etched into the lines on her face.

"What happened? Where am I?" She asked. Abbie searched for the words in her head, translating them so that she could tell the angel where she was.

"Earth" She said simply. Yes, that would be a suitable answer.

"I don't know where I am" The angel fretted. She paced back and forth, and Abbie's wings twitched nervously as she saw the two large searing holes in the angel's clothes, where her own wings should be.

"Name?" Abbie asked.

"Lailah. My name is Lailah, but I don't- what am I doing here? Why do I hurt? What happened to me? Where are my wings?" She demanded. Abbie wasn't used to have questions thrown at her so quickly, and she sighed.

"I do not know. I am Abigail. I will help" She said. She had been getting the hang of English; with Dean Cas and Sam helping her Abbie had slowly grasped the language of her family and if they talked slow and didn't overcomplicate things, she could hold conversations in English very well. Trouble was, how could she explain that to Lailah when she didn't know how? Abbie sighed.

"Are you; are you like them? Those in the sky? Am- am I like them?" Lailah asked. Abbie nodded.

"Yes. Don't be afraid, Lai- Lai" Abbie reassured her, having trouble getting her name out. Lailah. It felt comfortable on her tongue in enochian, but she had to practice in English to get it right. She still called Castiel Casti because of the transition between vowels. English was hard, Abbie had learned.

"What should we do?" Lailah asked. Abbie thought.

"We will. Help. Until- we find- help. Until- we find- my family" She replied. Abbie guessed that it would be best to have the angels all in one place, because they would be scared and confused just as she was right now. She may not have fallen from the sky, but she was in an unfamiliar place, in pain, and wondering how she got there. They were in similar positions. Lailah nodded.

"I will help with you" She said, and Abbie led the way through the trees, to where another angel had fallen. They were quite far away, and it took a long time to reach them, but when they did Abbie did the same as she did to Lailah. Again, the angel was in a panic, and introduced themselves as Abdiel. He was a male, and in the dark Abbie couldn't make out his features, despite the occasional light from falling angels.

"We should find shelter" Abbie said, looking around. They were in a field, and something in the ground spooked Abbie enough to want to leave immediately. But she didn't, because someone else was there. Having Dean as a father figure meant that you learned some lessons in hunting, and he taught Abbie to hone her sharp senses. There was someone watching them.

"Hello?" She called. There was a rustling in the far away trees, even the dead grass under Abbie's feet moved. Lailah and Abdiel huddled together behind her, and Abbie took a protective stance in front, feeling very vulnerable with busted wings and no weapon. A figure stepped out from the trees, and the two angels gasped, and Abbie let her defensive position drop. It was a scruffy looking male, who should be sending alarm bells off in Abbie's head, but she just felt calm and a little nervous.

"You poor things, I'm so sorry" He said sympathetically, and as yet another flaming angel flew over them, Abbie saw grief in his eyes.

"You know-what happened?" She asked. He nodded.

"The angel Metatron; the scribe he- he cast them out. Just like Lucifer, and some will be powerful enough to keep their memory and their grace. There's a job to be done here" The man said. Abbie frowned. Metatron, this was his doing? Why would he shut his family out of their home?

"A job?" She asked. He nodded.

"A job for you, Abigail. Your family, the hunters, will be looking for one particular angel, and you need to seek a few out before you return to them"

"Who are you?" Abbie asked.

"Just a messenger really. You need to listen to me. I know you wanna help every fallen angel you meet, I get that; but you can't. You need to find the three- well, two if you don't count Michael- archangels. They are powerful, they will have obtained their power and their angel status despite the fall"

"But- they are- dead, mostly" Abbie frowned. She remembered Castiel teaching her about the archangels and their downfalls.

"Where do you think angels go when they die Abbie? They go home. Even the dead angels will have been thrown down to earth, bringing them back. The archangels can re-open heaven, they are the only ones Metatron was afraid of. Find them Abbie, then you can help the others"

He seemed sincere, and Abbie nodded, but she wanted something more than to help the angels.

"And- my family? They are- okay? They think- I'm dead" Abbie said sadly.

"They'll have to keep thinking that until the archangels are found, Abigail, but they're alright. You will return to them safely in time, if this all goes to plan. This is why you are alive Abbie; God needs you, the only angel to have never set foot in heaven. You were never in, so you couldn't be cast out. You're the flare that'll help lead the angels back home"

"I thought- my family- were the ones to- fix the world"

"They'll play a part I'm sure, but no matter how hard they try this one isn't theirs, not for the main part anyway. Someone will tell them to pull a few angels out of harm's way, keep them safe, and you can do the main job" The man explained, and Abbie nodded.

"I am not familiar- with angels. Who are- the archangels?" She asked.

"Raphael, and Gabriel. They both were killed, so they would've fell the hardest. You stayed with the Winchesters, you should be familiar with research; they would've left craters on impact instead of some dead grass. A touch of grace should wake them, like you just woke those two angels. Be warned though, Abigail; with Abbadon free, she will have taken over hell and demons will be closing in on the fallen angels. You will need to be quick reaching Raphael and Gabriel. Abbadon herself is likely going to try and stop you"

"I will- be cautious" Abbie promised, and the man sighed. She wanted to ask how Abbadon was free, if hell was shut, and she had a feeling that was why she felt so sure something was wrong. It was Metatron who told them to sacrifice an angel to close hell; Abbie doubted it was for that purpose at all, and merely to get rid of the threat of her being an angel he couldn't throw away.

"Heaven falling; its hard to believe when you've seen it stand so tall for so long. Save God's soldiers Abbie. I want to give him good news for a change" The man said wistfully, and before Abbie could ask him a question that had shot to her lips, he was gone like he'd never existed. She turned around to face Lailah and Abdiel.

"Will you- join me?" She asked. They glanced at each other and Abbie was almost afraid that they would say no, before they nodded.

"Yes. I may not be any use, but I will try and help you save us" Abdiel told her.

"As will I" Lailah agreed.

"Then- lets go. We need a – Wifi"

Castiel was lost. He was lost and broken and alone. He stood in a terrible silence until the last angel had tumbled to the earth, and he felt his first emotion; grief. It was so complex, Castiel could barely understand it, but it was bad, and for now that was all he needed to know. He had to sink to the floor, pull his knees to his chest and weep because of this new, raw emotion that he couldn't control. He was shaking, water was pouring out of his eyes from no-where, he had no idea where he was and he could still, even now, hear Dean's last prayer to him, a loud cry that reached all that way and lodged itself in Castiel's mind; or maybe Dean was still yelling. It was hard to tell. Castiel's chest heaved and he felt a stuttered heartbeat- an unfamiliar pulsing in his chest that he just couldn't understand. He was now taking in huge gulps of air, a thing he couldn't get enough of even though he couldn't taste or feel it in his mouth. It made him calmer though, and Castiel made sure he took in plenty of air to gain some composure. He'd never curled up like this; he'd never felt so cold but burning hot at the same time. He never felt the annoying itch of dirt on his skin and how much he hated it being there. He wasn't sure how to process everything, how he could feel something in every part of his body and it was hard to take in. Castiel's eyes ran dry, but the stuttering of his breath didn't stop. The skin where the water had traced was now tight and dry, and Castiel felt exhausted. His body seemed to be shutting down, limbs heavy and eyelids refusing to stay open. Castiel panicked; what if he didn't wake up? What would come for him if he stayed there, in the open? His body did not listen to his protests though; it had had enough, and Castiel was thinking slower and slower until everything was a haze, and then he sank into a comfortable emptiness.

Castiel had never dreamed before. He'd been inside Dean's dreams, he knew it wasn't real, but he couldn't help but marvel at the complexity of the brain. Even as the dream went on Castiel couldn't remember how he'd gotten to where he was, and the faces of those he passed didn't exist, but he somehow still knew who they were. Dean was there with Sam at one point, and then they weren't and Castiel was left wondering where they went. The clearest part of his dream was the end; a sequence of events whirred so fast that Castiel was jarred into consciousness, his whole body jerking and making him feel like he was in danger. He was uncomfortable, to say the least; his neck ached and his arms were in awkward positions, and there was an odd tingling sensations in his left leg that was tucked under his right. Castiel pushed himself up unsteadily, face feeling itchy and tight and the leaves and mud that had stuck to his skin during the night made him feel horrible. Castiel was forcefully reminded of the previous night's events seemingly randomly, and his stomach twisted. Castiel didn't know what emotion this was, but he didn't like it at all. He rose to his feet and looked around bewildered; he had no idea where he was even in the morning light. Castiel searched in his pockets for his phone that he barely knew how to work but it wouldn't turn on when he started pressing buttons. He decided he should go back to Dean, try to think of ways of fixing this mess, and he reached out… with nothing. Castiel tried to hold down the steadily rising panic as he felt around for his wings. They were gone. On the inside, Castiel reached for his grace. That was gone too.

Panic was a very strong emotion, Castiel learned.

His breathing, which he assumed was an automatic thing, sped until he was dazed and that panicked him more, because he could feel it in his head. His hands were producing sweat and it made Castiel uncomfortable, and there were a thousand thoughts forcing themselves into existence in Castiel's head. He couldn't fly. He was stranded here as a mortal man. He had no idea where he was. There was a crushing weight in his chest that made him want to resume curling into a ball. His stomach was making frightening noises and his head was light. How could a human feel all this at once? Was this Dean and Sam on a daily basis? How do they cope? Castiel stumbled on his feet and tried to breathe properly again, as he'd guessed that was the root of the problem. He could find a town, maybe someone who could help him with his phone so he could contact Dean or Sam, or just walk until he knew how to get to the 'bat cave'. He wasn't sure why Dean called it that; there were no bats inhabiting the bunker and it wasn't a cave. He felt another surge of panic when he thought of Dean; what would the hunter say to him, when Castiel called? Would he be angry? Cold? Would he tell Castiel to leave and not call him again, because Castiel made this mess and now he had to get out of it? These were fears that were made stronger in a human mind. Castiel already wanted to tear his hair out because of them.

After tripping over most of the trees Castiel passed by, he saw the beginnings of a town. He stumbled out of the woods and onto a road, almost being ploughed down by a car and in this fragile state, Castiel wasn't sure if he wanted to find out how strong his body was like this. He wandered down a street, everything seeming bigger somehow, more intimidating, and Castiel realised how very vulnerable he was here. Anything could hurt him now, and the bitter wind was stinging his hands a bit. He resolved that problem by placing them in his pockets, and it was almost… comfortable to do so. His face, however, was open to the elements. Castiel headed into the first diner he saw to escape the slaps of cold air that made his eyes sting and produce more fluid.

"You okay doll? You look like you've had a rough night. Did you camp out to watch those meteors last night? Heard they were just gorgeous" A woman greeted as Castiel sat down heavily. He sighed.

"They weren't meteors, they were angels. It was horrifying. And yes, my night was uncomfortable to say the least" Castiel replied, and the woman looked at him sympathetically. Castiel's senses seemed to be dulled, and he found it hard to raise his eyes to look at her. He was tired, and sad. That seemed a good enough excuse.

"I'll get you some coffee on the house doll" She told him and left, so Castiel decided to do something useful and pull out his phone, wondering if he could wake the thing up by pressing as many buttons as possible.

"Uh, you do know the battery is drained, right? Pressing buttons won't help ya. You haven't slept at all, I can tell" The waitress had returned with steaming coffee, putting it down in front of Castiel and tutting.

"I just want to call Dean" Castiel sighed. The waitress pulled out a small black phone much like the one Castiel had, and handed it to him.

"You know the guy's number? Call him. Don't steal my phone though; that's not cool"

"You are very kind to strangers. Thank you. I will return this to you shortly" Castiel told her, and pressed the buttons that would connect him to Dean's phone. He felt a strange sensation; it was fear, and something good, and nerves. Castiel wondered if he would ever decipher what these things meant in terms of his feelings. He was doubtful.

It took two rings for Dean to answer the phone.

"Hello?" He said gruffly, and Castiel felt relief spread through him.

"Dean" He breathed.

"Cas? Where are you man, are you- you human?" Dean demanded. Castiel sighed.

"It would seem so. I'm lost Dean, I'm afraid" He said truthfully, and he heard Dean calling to Sam, shouting things he couldn't hear.

"I'm coming to get you, okay? Turn on the GPS on the phone, I'll find you"

Castiel knew how to do that, so he nodded. Then he realised that Dean wouldn't see that.

"Okay. Hurry Dean, being human is… confusing" He muttered, and the Dean hung up. Castiel turned the GPS on the phone and the waitress took it back, putting it behind the counter near the pie. Castiel's stomach growled when he thought of the pie. Maybe he was hungry. There was no time for that though; Castiel had to wait for Dean, and get back somewhere familiar, and then he could learn to do what his body needed. He sincerely hoped that Dean would teach him.

Castiel had already finished his coffee when he spotted the Impala pulling up outside the diner. Castiel stood up shakily, stumbling outside to where Dean was getting out of the car.

"Have you been crying man? God, you didn't-

"Didn't what, Dean?" Castiel asked curiously.

"Fall. Like, from the sky, fall" He said. Castiel felt the grief hit him again, and he doubled over a little. He shook his head.

"No. Metatron was kind to me. He sent me here before the spell was complete" He explained. Dean stepped forward and pulled Castiel into a hug, warm and comforting, and for a moment Castiel's feelings were replaced with one of content. Finally, he thought; a happy emotion.

"When I saw- God, I thought you were a fireball Cas, I thought you'd caused it. I'm sorry man" Dean muttered into his hair, and Cas sighed.

"So am I, Dean" Was his reply. He hoped that this time it would be enough, because he had never meant it more than now.

Abbie wasn't used to being the leader. She had never even sat in the shotgun seat and was asked for an opinion, so leading two fallen angels into a diner was rather unfamiliar. Abdiel and Lailah seemed happy to just follow a fledgling on her journey to find two archangels, even though they had no power anymore. They just had blind faith, and that reassured Abbie a little, because she wouldn't have had the words to convince them should she need to. Abdiel and Lailah were very uneasy as Abbie found a small café with free internet, looking around because everything was so unfamiliar to them. Abbie was uneasy too, but for a different reason. Hell wasn't shut; Metatron had lied to them and Abbie was killed to get her out of the way. Now she was alive someone would have noticed, and that meant that both Metatron and Abbadon would be on her trail. Attacks could come from anywhere and she had to check the café before she let the two angels enter. They were like new born fledglings at this moment, and that meant that Abbie was the one to care for them. She wouldn't let them get hurt under her care. The café was mostly empty, except for a man on a computer who hadn't looked up when they had entered and the woman checking the till. Abbie led Abdiel and Lailah to the computers and sat adjacent to the man, bringing up the place known as internet.

"What is this contraption?" Abdiel asked curiously, trying to catch the cursor between his fingers as Abbie searched for something useful. She needed to find the archangels, and searching for last night's events would be just what she needed.

"It- is human tech. I have learned- how to use it- a little" Abbie explained, and brought up a news article from this morning. It was detailed and at the same time very vague, but it had a clear message; all humans should stay away from the people that fell from the sky. From what Abbie had read, experts in falling objects had no clue what happened, and none of the slightly amnesiac angels had anything useful to tell them. She decided to narrow down her search and look for the biggest impacts, and just as she had been told, there were only two. Abbie's wings gave a hopeful twitch, which was painful, and they were aggravated by the back of the chair she was sat on. She tried to shuffle forward to ease her pain a little, but there was only so far you could go before your ribs were jammed into a table.

"This is- very bad" Abbie sighed.

"Why?" Abdiel asked.

"The angels- might get into- trouble. Humans- become killers- when the unknown- gets too close. They will- act out of fear. Many angels- could be killed- by ignorant humans" Abbie told them. The man on the computer next to her tutted and muttered 'foreigners' in a dark tone. Abbie didn't think that it was that noticeable that she wasn't from earth exactly. Maybe it was the wings, but the man hadn't seemed to have noticed them. He was too busy staring at his screen, which was on a website about beautiful females that Dean often visited. It must be something only human males understand.

"I think- I have located them" Abbie announced, and Lailah and Abdiel leaned in to see. There was a short clip of one angel comet speeding into a huge chasm, somewhere in the vegetated part of the world, and disappearing before the amount of grace released shut the recording off. The second seemed more important; the people who were filming were yelling about aliens and a 51st place, and Abbie scrolled down.

"Hm, what is Area- 51? I have never heard- of such a place" She mused, scrolling through the areal pictures. It looked like a military base, in the middle of a desert in Nevada. The archangel had slammed into the lake nearby, sending water many feet in the air. The man next to Abbie snorted.

"You don't know about area 51? Where are you from, space?" He asked.

"Heaven. We are unfamiliar with the earth at present time" Lailah supplied. Abbie shook her head.

"A joke. What is- area 51? What will they- do to that- meteor?" She asked him. He rolled his eyes.

"Area 51 is a military base that's so secret that you get too close and you get shot. People talk about conspiracy theories surrounding the place, but no one knows enough to be sure. Its likely that whatever fell from the sky will be… holy crap!" The man yelped, his eyes raking over the feathers on Abbie's back.

"We should go there- it is not- too far. Thank- you for your- help"

"You have wings! They ain't fake! Who are you?"

"Let's go"

Abbie stood and hurried away, the two angels rushing behind her. She didn't like people looking at her wings like that; at home, her wings went unnoticed, except when Dean found feathers on the floor. Her family knew they were a delicate topic, since Castiel mentioned that her wings were a little unorthodox in terms of size and colour. Things like this reminded her how lucky she was that Castiel took her to Dean and Sam and not to heaven, or she would be just like the others; helpless.

Back outside, Abbie searched for something that would help them find their way to Nevada. Across the street, was a small store that sold globes. Hopefully they could supply something a little more portable for Abbie's journey.

"Over there- we shall require- a map" She announced, and crossed the street. Lailah glanced worriedly at the car that had almost hit them, and Abdiel ran ahead to reach the pavement. Abbie was too set on the store to notice that the car was inches from her side.

Upon entering the shop, Abbie felt as if she was under a microscope. The man behind the counter stared as she made her way to the shelves, looking for a map that would help her find her way. Lailah and Abdiel hovered a little, admiring the globes and spinning them.

"Uh, you LARPING, kid?" He asked. He wasn't too old, Abbie noticed, but older than Dean and Sam were. She shook her head.

"No. I do not- LARP"

She'd heard the story of Carver Edlund's (AKA Chuck's) books about Dean, Sam and Castiel, and now probably she, since she had lived with the hunters and their angel long enough. Abbie wondered if Castiel was still an angel, if he had found his way back to Dean and Sam. She took comfort in the fact that they would definitely look for him, so she could concentrate on her job.

"So uh, what's with the wings?" He asked curiously.

"They are damaged- cannot move- much. Do you- have a map- of Nevada? Where- are we now?" She asked him, and he faltered.

"We're in Wyoming, how do you not- are you one of them? Those falling people?" He stuttered. Abbie shook her head.

"I did- not fall. Map, do you- have one?" She urged. He fumbled around for a moment before producing a folded map. Abbie took it. It was Nevada and it's surrounding states, one of which being Wyoming, which Abbie was grateful for; with busted wings it was nice not having to walk too far.

"Uh, why do you want a map of Nevada? You going to Las Vegas?"

"Around- that area- yes. Can you- point out our- exact location?" Abbie asked him, and he took the map, spreading it on the counter. He pointed on the map.

"We're here- Riverton, almost smack bang in the middle of Wyoming. You're going here- South of Nevada, in the Nevada desert. Aren't you a little young?"

"Aren't you- a little too- curious?" She asked. Abbie stared at the map intently, looking for a route she could take to get to her desired location quickly. She noticed little lines travelling across the map.

"What- are these?" She asked.

"Amtrak trains. Closest station you'll get is Ogden, Utah. It's a long trek though kid, if you're up to it. 'Bout 140 miles away"

"We will- make it. How much- for the map?" Abbie asked.

"Uh, you know what, have it on the house; you'll need your money for the train kid, it ain't cheap"

Within five minutes, Abbie and her companions left the shop with their map and began the long walk to Ogden.

"We shall go- to Lander, and hitch- a ride, down to Rawlins. Then we shall- see what options- are available to us there" Abbie planned as they walked, heading in the general direction of Lander. Lailah and Abdiel followed eagerly, looking at the map over Abbie's shoulders, leaning over her wings. They would need time to heal from whatever happened to them, and Abbie would need to check them over to see if there was anything she could do to speed the process.

"I see another angel. Should we help them?" Abdiel asked, pointing out a confused looking man who was stood in a circle of cracked concrete. People had stopped around him and were taking pictures, ignoring his obvious distress.

"We cannot- be distracted, Abdi- el. We will help- him by finding- Gabriel and Raphael" Abbie explained, but she felt a need to help the poor wingless angel, who was becoming more and more panicked as no one assisted him.

"What if we direct him? The man who talked to you, he said that your family were probably going to round up angels. Shouldn't we send them to them? It would make sense" Abdiel suggested. Abbie nodded. It would make sense to send the angels to Sam and Dean, where they could be safe. Lebanon, Kansas. It wasn't too far away, was it? No, not too far, Abbie thought as she looked at her map. She cautiously approached the angel, and the humans backed away, wondering what she was doing.

"Hey. I know how- to help" She said quietly, and the humans frowned and muttered. The angel stared at her hopefully.

"You can help me? Where am I?"

"You're in- Wyoming. You need to- go to Lebanon, Kansas. There is help- there. Two men- they will find you- there. Go to them" She urged.

"How do I get there?" He asked.

"Follow the signs. There are- many. They will lead- you there. More will follow" Abbie informed him, and the angel looked around, spotting a few signs.

"Thank you stranger. I hope to see you in Lebanon one day"

"You will" Abbie promised. The angel stepped away from his falling point and walked off down the street, the humans parting to let him through. Abbie turned to the crowd.

"Tell all those- who fall. Everyone you find. Send them to- Lebanon. Tell them- there is safety there. Don't- let them stay- lost, Spread the word" Abbie pleaded. Then she left, taking her angels with her. She hoped the humans did as she asked. They had a knack for not listening to instructions, no matter where they came from.

"So, you'll help along the way. I guess that's good. Off to Lander, then? We're on our way to find an archangel" Lailah said, and Abbie nodded. She hope they would hold out on the attacks until they were in the city, and hopefully further on than that.

She knew not to get her hopes up though; she was a Winchester, after all.

It was quiet as Dean drove Castiel back to the bunker. Neither seemed to want to break the delicate silence between them, to start the fighting again, but Castiel needed to. He had emotions running through him with questions to follow, like why he felt so uncomfortable or why his arms were so heavy.

"You know Cas, you could just ask whatever question you've rolling around up there instead of keeping quiet" Dean said suddenly, and Castiel looked up to see the corner of his mouth raised slightly.

"Why does the dirt itch my skin? Why does my body feel heavy? Why is my stomach making strange noises? What is this strange liquid that keeps appearing in my mouth? Why-

"Okay Cas, one at a time! Jeez, you bombard me like that and I'll give you the wrong answer. Okay. Your body must just not like dirt; some skin is more sensitive than others, yours might not like the feel of being dirty. It's a normal thing" Dean explained. Castiel nodded. He noticed that the dirt that accumulated on Dean and Sam was washed away fairly quickly; they mustn't like dirt either.

"As for your body; well you must be exhausted man, your body is drained. You're hungry, your mouth is dry so its making saliva to keep it wet. Its just normal human stuff Cas, don't look so worried"

"I'm not used to human things. My head feels like it is pulsing. It's cold. I'm confused" Castiel complained, and Dean chuckled.

"We're almost home buddy, I'll get ya all fixed up. How does burgers sound?" He asked. Castiel's stomach growled again, and Dean laughed.

"Yeah, thought you might like that" He said fondly. Castiel put a hand on his stomach and tried not to be too embarrassed.

Dean was used to playing mother hen. He'd done it all his life. Hell, with Sam the way he was Dean was mother hen right now. He killed the engine and helped an exhausted Cas out of the car, heading into the bunker slowly. He'd realised that the moment Cas called, he'd felt relief like nothing else. Cas was okay. It wasn't Cas' fault. He would be okay if Dean looked after him, and he could keep at least one of his angels. Dean sat Cas down at the table and headed to the kitchen, fixing them some burgers. Sammy was sleeping heavily, all wrapped up in bed and healing too slow for Dean's liking. It had been far too close, to him losing Sam again. They couldn't be separated again, not after everything they've been through. Dean carried the burgers back to Cas to find the angel dozing, and Dean would later deny to hell and back that he thought it was adorable. Cas' chin had fallen to his chest and his face was scrunched up in the effort to stay awake. His hand came up to rub a bleary eye like a child would, and Dean smiled as he set down the plates.

"How about you take my bed and have a nap, and I'll keep this warm for when you wake up" He said, and hauled Cas up, helping him amble along to Dean's room. Normally, Dean would be upset if someone borrowed his bed and covered the sheets in mud, but this was Cas, and he was tired and confused and weary and new to even being tired, so Dean let it slide. Sam was right; Cas did get a free pass on a lot of things Dean normally would flip out for. But of course, he'd deny that too, if anyone asked. He used to have two angels he'd loosen the rules for, but now he technically had none. All his rule bending allowances now went to a clueless Cas.

Dean ate his burger and checked on Sam before sitting back down at the war table, looking at the thousands of dots that represented the angels. Some of them had moved; there were two that were heading south in Wyoming, and one that was heading in Dean's direction. The others seemed to fret back and forth and hell if Dean knew how the men of letters had even swung this. How had they predicted this and tagged all the angels? Did they know that this would happen, did they themselves know a prophet? It was hard to tell with them all dead. Dean watched the dots, spread out across the whole world, and sighed. This was a mess. He felt a heavy weight in his heart that represented Sam's state, and Cas' state, and Abbie. God, how had they fallen for Metatron's trick? It was just so Abbie was down and out so there were no angels to stand up to him. Dean's guilt and anger was intense as he replayed the moment she died. She was just a kid. Maybe not a human kid, but she was a kid and he'd looked after her, and he watched her be sacrificed so that the other angels fell. Dean missed Abbie. All the feathers on the floor had long since gone, and there was no one to team up with against Sam or teach swear words to or to just have around; one innocent presence that gave Dean hope that he could have something that wasn't broken. He should've known it was too good to be true. He missed her a lot. Dean must have sat for longer than he had thought, because he heard the familiar sounds of someone having a nightmare. He stood and headed toward the rooms. Sam's was deadly silent, which meant that…

"Cas! Hey, Cas, wake up, it ain't real!" Dean called, shaking the shoulders of a struggling ex-angel. He opened his eyes, and then he burst into tears. Dean doubted the poor guy even knew what tears were, so he didn't object when Cas clung to him, instead easing himself onto the bed to comfort him more.

"It was awful. So awful" Cas whispered, and Dean shushed him, a hand resting on the Back of Cas' head, the other tightly wrapped around him. Dean didn't realise he was humming hey Jude until Cas' sobs had softened a little. Dean rocked him gently, humming to him, and Cas calmed down.

"What was that Dean?" Cas asked.

"It was a nightmare Cas. Just a nightmare. I can't do anything about those though"

"You could stay" Cas suggested. Dean nodded.

"If that's what you think will keep them away. I'll be right here" He promised.

"I don't deserve such promises Dean. I ignored you for so long, I didn't tell you what I did, I didn't trust you. Why are you promising such things?" He asked. Dean sighed.

"I don't know Cas, its just right to look after you when you need it, and you need me right now. You're sorry, I know you are, and I know you mean it. It'll take a while to forgive you for ignoring me, but you can't ignore me now. I'll look after you"

Cas relaxed into Dean's arms a little more, and returned the hug. Cas had never hugged Dean before. Sure, Dean had hugged Cas but he'd never actually hugged him back, and it felt new to Dean to feel Cas' long arms around his waist. It wasn't a bad new though, just something he could get used to. He kept a hold of Cas, noticing when his eyebrows were scrunching up in pain.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"My head feels like it is pulsing. Its painful" Cas told him. Dean knew what to do with that. He could fix that.

"It's a headache Cas. I'll get you some asprin"

"No! Please don't leave" Cas pleaded.

"But you need-

"I'll be fine, Dean. Just don't leave me. Please, stay with me"

So Dean did.


End file.
